Cambridge or Liverpool?

Neither city is for a beach vacation, but Liverpool at least has real sand within reach. Merseyrail runs out to Crosby's tidal flats and Antony Gormley's iron figures, and on to the dune-backed beach at Formby. New Brighton and West Kirby's marine lake lie across the river. The catch is the water: the tide goes out a very long way, and soft mud and currents make swimming a poor idea.

Cambridge has no coast at all. The nearest shore is about an hour and a half away by car, so swimming means the 1920s Jesus Green Lido or the Cam at Grantchester Meadows on a hot day.

Neither city is a reason to travel for food, and in both the old pub does a lot of the work. Cambridge offers ales and roasts in beamed rooms by the colleges, street food on the daily Market Hill market, scones in riverside tea rooms and a fair Asian and Mediterranean spread on Mill Road.

Liverpool has a little more to discover. Scouse, the stew that gave the city's people their nickname, is a genuine local dish, Chinatown is long established, and Bold Street and the Baltic Triangle's food halls give more variety among independents. Its Victorian gin palaces are also grander places to drink than most of what Cambridge has.

Cambridge has the denser and older historic core. Eight centuries of colleges sit along the Backs, with King's College Chapel's fan vaulting, Trinity's Great Court and the Wren Library a few minutes' walk apart. The university museums, led by the Fitzwilliam, add far more than you would expect from a town this size. Bear in mind that several colleges charge for entry and close around exams.

Liverpool's sights are a different story, that of trade, empire and migration. The Three Graces and the Royal Albert Dock warehouses hold the maritime and slavery museums, the Walker has its Pre-Raphaelites, and the two 20th-century cathedrals face each other along Hope Street. It covers more ground and is more about the city's own past than about centuries of scholarship.

Here Liverpool is far ahead. Concert Square, Seel Street and Wood Street fill with bars and clubs at weekends, the Baltic Triangle's warehouses host late electronic nights, and Lark Lane has relaxed local bars. Many nights end well after 2am, and you will share the streets with stag and hen groups.

Cambridge evenings are mostly spent in the pub, often a riverside one with a garden in summer. Its clubs are small and student-focused and go quiet outside term. For a big night, people there take the train to London.

Both sit on flat land, but Liverpool has more variety close by. Sefton Park's lake and palm house, the breezy Mersey promenade and the ferry crossing are all in town. Just beyond lie Formby's pinewoods, home to red squirrels and natterjack toads, and the Wirral Way out to the birds of the Dee estuary.

Cambridge's outdoors is gentler and smaller in scale: punting on the Cam, cattle-grazed water meadows on the way to Grantchester, and the old reserve at Wicken Fen with its dragonflies and wild ponies. It is easy country for level cycling, but it has neither coast nor dunes.

Cambridge makes the stronger base. London is under an hour by train for a show or a museum, Ely Cathedral is a quarter of an hour away, and Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham, Audley End and the National Trust estates at Wimpole and Anglesey Abbey are all within easy reach. You could fill a week without running out.

Liverpool has two excellent short trips in Chester's Roman walls and Rows and Manchester's museums, plus Port Sunlight and Southport closer in. After that the choice thins, and Conwy, Llandudno and the Lake District make long days.

Both work well with children for a few days, but the outings are different. Cambridge is the quieter and greener of the two, with punting, the whale skeleton at the free Museum of Zoology, the Sedgwick's dinosaurs and, best of all, the historic aircraft at Duxford.

Liverpool leans towards animals and big free museums. Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park are nearby, the World Museum has a planetarium, and the ferry is an easy treat. Its loud weekend centre is something to plan around.

Both centres are easy on foot, but they move differently. Cambridge is the more compact and completely flat, and a hired bicycle reaches Grantchester and the outlying colleges. The station is a fair walk from the middle of town.

Liverpool spreads a little wider, with a climb up to Hope Street. Its Merseyrail lines and the ferry make the coast and the Wirral simple, which Cambridge's ordinary buses cannot match. Sefton Park and Anfield still need a bus or a taxi.

Liverpool is the better shopping city. Liverpool ONE gathers the big chains and department stores in open-air streets by the docks, and Bold Street adds vintage clothes, records and independent boutiques. Football shirts and Beatles memorabilia are the usual souvenirs.

Cambridge is smaller and leans on books: academic booksellers and second-hand dealers in the lanes, the Market Hill stalls, and Mill Road's grocers and vintage shops. It is browsing to fit around sightseeing.

Liverpool is clearly the cheaper stay. Rooms cost noticeably less for most of the year, except on match weekends, around big concerts and during the Grand National, and almost all its major museums are free.

Cambridge is expensive. Hotels are few and in steady demand, and eating out is priced like the wealthy south-east. The free Fitzwilliam and evensong help, but the famous colleges charge for entry. A college room out of term is the best way to save.

Music is woven into Liverpool's identity. Bands play the pubs and small venues most nights, the Cavern draws pilgrims, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays a full season in its art deco hall. The Everyman and the Playhouse make their own theatre, and the Empire takes the big touring shows.

Cambridge's distinctive offering is choral. Evensong sung by the choirs of King's, St John's and Trinity is something Liverpool cannot match. Beyond that you have student comedy in the Footlights tradition, the Arts Theatre and the summer Folk Festival, but a thinner programme overall.

Neither has a spa culture, but Cambridge is far easier to unwind in. A slow punt along the Backs, the Botanic Garden, college gardens and the meadow walk to Grantchester all give real calm, as long as you avoid King's Parade at the height of summer.

Liverpool is built for going out rather than resting. Sefton Park, the ferry and the quiet free galleries offer some respite, but for a properly restful break you would do better to stay out on the Wirral or the coast.